DURHAM, N.C.—Eventually, Quinn Cook will stop hearing about the upset.

That hasn’t happened yet, though. Everywhere Duke’s sophomore-to-be point guard goes, he’s asked about how his Blue Devils lost to 15th-seeded Lehigh in their opening game of the NCAA Tournament in March. Even at the N.C. Pro-Am, minutes after he finished playing a game with three Duke teammates who weren’t even part of that defeat—two incoming freshmen and a transfer—the subject is broached.

“Man, it hurt,” Cook said. “No disrespect to Lehigh. We can’t go anywhere and not hear about it. I’ll speak at camps, Tyler (Thornton) speaks at camps and all the little kids are talking about Lehigh. I mean, it’s funny, but it’s definitely motivation for next year.”

Really? It’s funny? That can’t be right.

“I mean ...,” Cook said with a smile that almost instantly disappears, and then he opens his eyes wide for effect. “No, it’s not.”

Last season’s Duke squad was, at times, a bit of an enigma. There were pinnacle moments that every Mike Krzyzewski team authors—the Maui Invitational championship, the last-second win at North Carolina. But there were confounding lows, too—three ACC losses at Cameron Indoor Stadium and, of course, the Lehigh game.

That team had a pair of first-round NBA Draft picks (Austin Rivers and Miles Plumlee), but the most common criticism was a lack of on-floor leadership. The returning players are aware of the challenge.

“People are going to step up. We have to step up,” Cook said. “I know I’m going to step up. We’ve got two captains, Mason (Plumlee) and Ryan (Kelly), but it’s not just one leader. It has to be everybody. It’s (Seth Curry’s) last year and Mason’s last year and Ryan’s last year, and I know they don’t want to take the Duke jersey off until we’ve won a national championship.”

Before the Blue Devils win the national championship, though, they must get past the NCAA Tournament’s first weekend. And before they do that, they must figure out what type of team they’re going to be. Part of that process is happening at the N.C. Pro-Am. During one game, Cook was on a squad with incoming Duke freshmen Amile Jefferson and Rasheed Sulaimon and Rodney Hood, a transfer from Mississippi State who will sit out a year before being eligible to play in Duke games. For those four, this is an excellent opportunity.

In the Pro-Am game last week, the Duke crew fell behind by as many as 19 points and rallied to tie the game late, before former N.C. State guard Alex Johnson hit the game-winning shot in the final moments. It’s a reminder that there will be some growing pains, but the comeback is a reminder that the talent is there.

“Getting to play with these guys every day, work out with them and then come here and go at it with them is setting us up to have a great season,” Jefferson said. “This is just the beginning of what we’re going to see this season.”

Cook ran the point for his team, and he also has spent time dispensing advice on playing at Duke. There’s one thing, above all else, that he has tried to get the freshmen to understand.

“The best players are in the best shape and never get tired,” he said. “I wasn’t in shape like I was supposed to be last year, and I didn’t play. I took this offseason very seriously, getting in shape and with basketball, just working on my game. ... That’s the biggest thing I told Amile and Rasheed: Just to get in shape, staying in shape.”

For Jefferson, an athletic but skinny forward—he’s listed at 6-8 and 195 pounds, the same weight as Thornton, a 6-1 point guard—gaining strength is definitely a priority.

“I’m definitely on a weight program,” he said with a laugh. “Just got here about a week ago; me and Rasheed have been out here for about eight days. Got into a really good strength and conditioning program, working out and getting bigger and getting better. I don’t think I’m going to add a lot of bulk to my frame — that’s just how I’m built — but I’ll get some real good basketball strength so I can get in there and play a 4 and be a combo forward where I can guard a bigger fella or step out to the wing and guard a guard.”